Biophysical Chronology

Since the history of physics has been largely ignored in the text, we present the following chronology of biological, chemical and physical developments which are relevant to the material we have covered. Most entries reflect the first discovery or correct understanding of a phenomenon or principle.

Islamic science flourished during the period from 800 to 1300 AD (or CE, "Common Era"), and there are many
instances where a discovery was made by an Islamic scholar, which was then "rediscovered" by a "western"
scholar some years (or centuries!) later. While a number of Islamic scholars are mentioned below in conjunction
with material of interest to us, much more information is available at
Muslim Scientists and Scholars and
Muslim Scientists and Islamic Civilization.
Note that the names of Islamic scholars were often Latinized in later references in
western science; these names are found in parentheses below. Many of the dates are approximate (interpolated
from dates of birth and death).